Harry Reid's Retirement Blows The Nevada Senate Race Wide Open
WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) decision not to run for re-election in 2016 sets up a Nevada Senate race that's wide open on both the Republican and Democratic sides.
"It's a tossup because the presidential race is a tossup there - I'd expect the candidates to run closely together," Kyle Kondik, the managing editor for polling guru Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, told TPM Friday.
The question on the Republican side is if Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), often mentioned as the top contender for Senate, will change his mind and decide to run. He had previously said he was not interested in running, despite encouragement from national Republicans. A national Senate Republican aide listed Sandoval, who is Hispanic, on Friday on the shortlist for running for Senate.
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There is no Democratic heir apparent to Reid. Democrats mentioned Catherine Marie Cortez Masto, the former two-term attorney general who couldn't run again because of Nevada term limits, and former Secretary of State Ross Miller —who lost the race for attorney general— or perhaps state Sen. Ruben Kihuen. National Democrats were quick to stress that the bench of potential candidates was decent even if Reid was not running.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/harry-reid-nevada-senate-race-wide-open-brian-sandoval
